Mangos
by Banapan
Summary: This story is mostly based on Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry, but it tells the story of how Peter got his scar that appears in the movie Hook. Oneshot.


Mangos were his favorite sort of torture to inflict on the old captain. Everyday, Peter would set out in the early afternoon to round up as many mangos as he could carry and then fly to the fort to have some fun with the pirates. In fact he had done it so many times, that he and the pirates had come to consider it normalcy. Even though the pirates would very much like it to stop, or so they would imply while shouting curses and flinging bullets trying to bring the flying boy down. Truth be told, it was when it stopped that the pirates found they almost missed the daily visits and rain of tropical fruit. Well, all that pirates that is except the captain. Hook himself was quite pleased with a day of no interruptions from his nemesis, or as he would put ex-nemesis.

Two days earlier, Peter had shown up with his usually mid-afternoon pelting of mangos. Nothing seemed out the ordinary, but today Hook had been in a particularly evil mood. You could say that his evil genius was working overtime. As another mango hit the side of Hook's hut, Hook called in his smallest, but fastest runner.

"I want you to follow the boy," Hook sneered, "and don't be seen or my plan won't work." With that he sent the pirate on his way. As Peter finished off his last mango and began his retreat, an unseen shadow slipped into the dense brush following the boy's flight. Peter was easy to follow when he thought no one was following him. He stayed low to the tree line and flew reasonably slow. The pirate assigned to follow him, a scrawny boy called Billy Jukes, had no problem slipping through the jungle always keeping a watchful eye on Peter flying above.

Peter was flying back to the grove of mango trees he used for his ammunition. He felt so giddy after his first round of fire on the pirates that he decided to change things up a little and go in for a second. Just up ahead he spotted them and started his descent. The smell of the sweet fruit made him realize that he hadn't eaten anything all day, so he decided to wait on the second attack and have a snack. When he had eaten his fill, he stretched out under the biggest of the trees for a quick snooze, and in seconds he was fast asleep. The whole time, lurking in the shadows was Billy Jukes, and when he saw that Peter had fallen asleep, he turned and headed back to the fort as quickly as he could.

"Are you sure?" Hook questioned again. Jukes nodded. "Then let's go get us some Mangos men," Hook said with an evil twinge in his eye. The hunting party he assembled took off into the jungle, leaving just enough pirates behind to make it appear as if no one had left, just the way Hook planned it. With Jukes leading the way, the party reached the grove of mango trees in almost ten minutes. Hook had the men he brought stationed all around the grove. The he peered through the thick foliage to see if Peter was still asleep. To Hook's great pleasure, he saw Peter still lying beneath one of the trees. _He seems so peaceful, if only he would get to be that way before he dies. _

Peter yawned and stretched. He had been asleep for almost two hours, and now it was starting to get dark. He had to move quickly if he was going to raid the fort again. He flew up into the tree he had been sleeping under and started picking as many mangos as he needed for his raid. When he was satisfied that he enough, he took off toward the fort. The second he was out of sight, Hook motioned for his men to come out of their hiding spots. "The boy is going for a second raid, and when he comes back tomorrow, he'll get an ambush." Hook's look of glee changed to that of annoyance as he added, "So get to work with those traps!"

The morning dawned with its usual brilliance and bathed the island in warm sunlight. By the time the sun had made it nearly halfway across the sky, Peter was ready for his daily mango raid on the pirate fort. As he prepared to leave Tink insisted that she come along. She stated that something just didn't feel right about this day. "Come off it Tink, it's a wonderful day and besides I'm just throwing fruit at them. I've done it every day for a long time. Relax and stay here, you'd only ruin my fun anyway," Peter remarked as he took toward the grove. Tink obviously hurt by his words chimed back that she hoped something did ruin his fun.

Peter spotted the grove and started his descent. He landed on a branch of one of the outer trees. He surveyed the grove, and convinced that he was alone went about picking some mangos for his breakfast. He bit into the first fruit, thoroughly enjoying its sweetness. A branch snapped off in the distance which caused Peter to sit up and look around. He waited and when he felt it was safe, he went back to his breakfast. After a couple more bites, he saw, out of the corner of his eye, a shadow pass behind him. Peter jumped up and turned around quickly, prepared to fling what was left of his breakfast. He stood stock still for a while and then relaxed. He laughed inaudibly at himself and went to sit back down. Suddenly from behind him a pirate flung himself out into the open and toward Peter. Peter swooped into the air, but not quick enough. The pirate grabbed his ankle and threw him back down to the ground. Peter kicked himself free and quickly got up just in time to dodge another pirate. His swerving motion led him straight into the grasp of yet another pirate. He had been ambushed. The pirate flung Peter to the ground and held him down. Peter fought with all his might, but the pirate was much stronger than he was. He gave one last valiant kick and must have hit the right spot because the pirate holding him instantly let go and toppled backward. Seeing his chance for a getaway, Peter got to his feet preparing to take off. Just as his feet left the ground, Peter saw a glint of steel to his side and then immense pain. He screamed and flung himself to the side, taking off into the jungle.

Hook who had just attempted to gut the fleeing boy yelled to his men, "After him!" Then he glanced down at his hook. It was covered with blood, Peter's blood. A drop fell from the end and landed in a small pool of blood on the ground. From the pool there was a fine trail leading into the jungle were the boy had taken off. _I got him and now he's hurt_, Hook thought with a hint of glee. Most of his men had taken off in the wrong direction, so Hook took it upon himself to follow the blood trail and find the boy to finish the job. "I'll get you now boy, hope you've said your prayers." Hook said, and then broke into a fit of laughter, which stopped almost as abruptly as it started. Hook had stepped into one of his own traps and was now dangling by his ankle a few feet above the ground. "Blast!" he shouted.

Peter ran as far as he could before dropping to the ground. The pain in his side was almost unbearable. He knew he was bleeding, he could tell from the feeling of a warm liquid spreading across the hand that was clutching his side. His legs felt cold and he was shaking all over. Peter tried to yell out for help, but when he took in a breath he started to cough up blood. This was it; he was going to bleed to death in the middle of the jungle. _No, I can't give up_, Peter thought. He braced himself and tried to crawl. The task was painful, but he managed to travel a few feet before having to stop from exhaustion. He felt so weak and cold. Another fit of coughing and then Peter fell into unconsciousness; a steady stream of blood still oozing from his side.

A pair of Mollusk sentries had been silently surveying the path leading to the village when they heard someone coughing. One of them motioned to the other to go check it out. The man left his post in search of the source of the coughing. He hadn't gone far when he came across Peter's form lying on the ground. He recognized the boy immediately and ran to his side. He surveyed the damage done and called to his partner for help. Within seconds the second sentry arrived. He too recognized Peter and knew exactly what to do to stop the bleeding. He ran off and returned moments later carrying a handful of some sort of moss. He placed on top of Peter's wound and, ripping a stripe of cloth from his clothes, bound the wound. Then he picked up Peter and motioned for the other sentry to return to his post. Without looking back to see of his partner had listened to his order he took off toward the village carrying Peter.

James had been put in charge of the boys until Peter got back, but Peter had been gone longer than he usually was. Prentiss had even asked a couple of times when Peter would be back. James didn't know the answer and the more Prentiss asked the more annoyed and worried he got. Peter had been later than usual the day before as well, and it was like him to change habits without telling anyone, but there was something that didn't sit right in James' mind. Tinkerbell felt it too. She had become increasingly agitated with every passing minute. She had a feeling Peter was in trouble, but she was still mad at him and kept herself from flying off to check on him. She knew that if she showed up and he was all right, then he would just make fun of her for being worried. Then she suddenly felt a disconnection, like somebody had ripped a warm blanket off her when it was cold outside. She couldn't ignore it anymore, something terrible had happened to Peter and he needed help. Without a moments pause, she flew out of the home underground toward the pirate fort where she hoped she would find Peter.

Fighting Prawn had been in the midst of his afternoon meditation when his daughter entered the hut weeping. He looked up at her and made a motion for her to come closer. She did and upon seeing her father's concern, cried out to him that Peter had been killed by the pirates. Fighting Prawn leaped to his feet and rushed outside where a great commotion had begun. There in the middle of all the commotion stood the sentry holding Peter's lifeless body. Fighting Prawn fought his way through the crowd and grasped the hand of the small boy. It was very cold, but he could feel a faint pulse in the boy's wrist. A look of relief came over Fighting Prawn's face and he ordered for the boy to be taken to the medicine woman immediately. Then he sent out a messenger to collect the other boys and bring them to the village for safe keeping. He had always warned Peter that something like this could happen, but he never actually expected it to really happen.

Tinkerbell searched the pirate fort extensively, but there was no sign of Peter. She decided to check the grove of mango trees where Peter gathered his ammunition for the raids he often embarked on. She hadn't gone far when she spotted Captain Hook and another pirate walking down the mountain toward the fort. They were talking, but from where Tink was she couldn't make it out. She decided to fly closer to them and listen in for a bit.

"You've done well Mr. Jukes and I believe an extra ration of grog is in order." Hook said slightly patting the pirate on the back. "You have greatly assisted me in the riddance of a great annoyance. That flying boy won't ever bother us again; he got what was coming to him," Hook sneered. At that moment Hook took on a little spring in his step and began to faintly hum an old sea shanty.

Tinkerbell, who had been flying just close enough to the two men to hear their words stopped dead in her wake after Hook mentioned Peter. _They've killed Peter!_ She knew it to be true because of the disconnection she felt only moments earlier in the home underground. She planted herself on the closest branch and wept bitterly. Lord Aster had told her to look after Peter and now she had failed him. She had to at least find his body before the animals did. The Mollusks would give him a proper funeral. Tinkerbell rose slowly from the branch and headed toward the mango grove to start her search.

Fighting Prawn had been pacing outside the hut of the medicine woman, waiting for a report on Peter's condition. It had been an eternity since the sentry had brought the boy, clinging to life, into the village. He thought that certainly the medicine woman had had plenty of time to do something. Just as Fighting Prawn was about to burst open the door and demand a report, the medicine woman opened the flap that served as a door and motioned for him enter. Inside the hut, Fighting Prawn saw Peter lying on a straw bed next to a fire at the far side of the hut; he was covered in sweat. The medicine woman, whose name in translated into English means roughly "she that heals", motioned for Fighting Prawn to sit down with his back to the boy. She then sat opposite him and began a familiar chant that was used to cast away evil spirits. When she had finished, she told Fighting Prawn that the boy had lost a large amount of blood, and that he was now very weak and susceptible to illness. Fighting Prawn, who was still very agitated, took a deep breath to calm himself, and asked whether or not Peter would live. The medicine woman looked for a long time past Fighting Prawn at the boy. She then looked back at Fighting Prawn and said that it was up to Peter whether or not he lived; there was nothing else she could do for him.

When Tinkerbell came upon the grove, the sight that met her eyes was the most horrifying thing she had ever seen. She had been expecting to see Peter lying on the ground with sword through his chest or something, but instead she only saw blood. To her it seemed to be everywhere. It was Peter's blood and by the looks of it he had tried to run off into the jungle, but he couldn't have gotten too far by the amount of blood Tink saw. He had bled to death. He had probably been calling to her for help and she had never come. Peter died thinking she didn't care. The thought stung Tinkerbell like a blade plunging through her heart. She had to find him, now more than ever. She took off, following the trail of blood that led into the jungle.

The messenger, Fighting Prawn had sent, reached the hut of the lost boys in only a few seconds. He burst through the door, but to his surprise the boys were not there. He waited a few minutes and then searched around the hut. Still he could not find the boys. Where had they gone? Had they suffered the same fate as Peter? He decided to scout out the pirate fort for signs of the other boys. He left a shell by the door of the hut, as a sort of calling card, incase the boys came back. Then he began to make his way down the path toward the fort. He had gone maybe about a mile, when he heard the sounds of children. He sped up walking toward the noise. It grew louder and louder, he was right on top of it… and then it began to fade. The messenger turned and walked back a few paces. The noise grew louder. He walked back until he was right on top of it and then stopped. He looked around, but he didn't see any sign of the boys. Then he heard a distinct voice say that they were hungry and wanted to go for food. Another voice said that they had to wait for Peter to get back. It was definitely the boys, but where were they. It was almost as if the voices were rising up from the ground. That's it! The boys were underground, in some sort of cave no doubt. The messenger called out to the boys with a phrase Fighting Prawn had taught all the Mollusks. "Hello Lost Boys, this is (the messenger's name in the language of the Mollusks)."

Tinkerbell followed the trail until it stopped being a trail and became a large splatter on the ground. This was obviously where Peter had stopped, but why wasn't he here? Tinkerbell stared at the splatter trying to think of where Peter could have gone form here. She scanned the area and noticed a spear lying on the ground close by. It was a Mollusk spear, not one of those flimsy spears the pirates carried. Then Tinkerbell realized where Peter must have gone. A Mollusk sentry must have found him and taken him back to the village. With a slight sense of relief, Tinkerbell flew off toward the village.

All of a sudden the voices stopped. The messenger then heard some scrapping around that sounded like it was from behind a large tree in front of him. He then saw a small head peek out from behind that tree. The head disappeared, more scrapping, voices, and then more scrapping. One by one the boys all came out from behind the large tree and stood before the messenger. The messenger, relieved he had found the boys, motioned for them to follow him, and to make sure they did as he asked he pulled a mango from his pouch and showed it to the boys. James recognizing the sign asked, "Where's Peter?" The Messenger shook his head and again motioned for the boys to follow him. The boys consented and followed the messenger back to the village.

Tinkerbell arrived at the village at the same time as the messenger and the lost boys. Fighting Prawn seeing the boys and Peter's little companion walked out to meet them. He was about to speak when there was a loud burst of bells. "Calm yourself my little friend," Fighting Prawn said in a soothing tone, "Peter is here, he is in good hands." The bells quieted down and eventually stopped. Then James, gathering up what courage he could, addressed Fighting Prawn.

"What happened to Peter?" he questioned, shuttering just a little at the end. Fighting Prawn put a hand on James' shoulder and led the boys and Tinkerbell into his hut. The boys situated themselves in front of Fighting Prawn in a sort of semi-circle. They all sat silently for a few minutes and then Fighting Prawn began.

"I don't know the exact story, but it appears as if Peter was attacked by the pirates and… well, it isn't good. Hook must have gotten a hold of him and tried to finish him off. He must have thought he succeeded because when I saw Peter, he looked as if he was dead." There was an outburst of bells and Tinkerbell flew from the hut. Fighting Prawn sighed and looked at the boys. All of them had tears in their eyes and looked frightened. Tubby Ted was the first to speak.

"What are we going to do?" He asked. James sniffled and put a hand on Ted's shoulder. Fighting Prawn seeing the distress the boys were in stood and opening the flap to his hut said, "Come, I will show where he is." He led the boys to the hut of the medicine woman and lifted the flap for them to walk inside. All but James went into the hut. Fighting Prawn lowered the flap and looked at James curiously. James shuddered and backed up from the hut.

"I can't go in there. I don't want to see him if he's dead. I couldn't bear it." James croaked as he began to whimper. Fighting Prawn put his hand on James shoulder and gave him a smile. "You mean he isn't dead?" James asked with a renewed hope. Fighting Prawn nodded and again lifted the flap. James rushed in to join the other boys gathered around Peter's bedside. Tink had already found him and was still crying over the fact that he was still alive. She had settled herself in his messy red hair and was never happier to be there. The boys said nothing and just looked at Peter, who was still unconscious. James was the first to notice the bandage that covered the gash on his side. He touched it gingerly and immediately pulled his hand away for fear of hurting Peter. "I promise you Peter, the pirates will pay for this," he said through gritted teeth in tone unlike his personality. At this the other boys looked at James in alarm. Tinkerbell, too, looked up from her position on Peter's head.

"What can we do to the pirates?" said Thomas. He, like the other boys, couldn't fly and had been captured by the pirates on more than one occasion. Somewhere in their minds they all knew that confronting the pirates without Peter was futile. James had been running it through his mind and had come up with a solution.

"I know we don't have Peter, but we do have Tink," he reported, "She can be just as big a help as Peter." Tink smiled at his remark. "And don't you worry Tink, Peter will be safe here, the pirates wouldn't dream of coming here," James adding hoping she wouldn't decline to help on account of Peter. After a long moment, Tink agreed to help, and she had an idea of what to do that wouldn't require the boys to understand her language.

"Men, a moment's silence for a fallen foe," Hook called out to his men who had gathered to hear the story of Peter's ultimate defeat. Whatever men were wearing hats removed them and a long moment of silence followed. Then Hook broke the silence by ordering Smee to play a jubilant tune on his flute for the men to celebrate they're release from the boy's annoyance. Hook himself began to hum along to the off key, but nevertheless joyful tune Smee croaked out on the flute he had fashioned for himself during the first few weeks on the island. The pirates bustled about with their daily chores, but now with addition of a signal fire and repairing the huts to look presentable for any rescuers that might happen to see them. Hook's plan was simple: live luxuriously until a rescue ship comes and then when they had been taken out far enough to sea, he and his men would take over the ship. Every time he ran through the plan in his head he became more and more anxious for the day when he would once again be out at sea raiding and pillaging like every good pirate does.

Tink coaxed the boys back to the hut the Mollusks had built for them to live in. Once there she did her best to explain her plan. "Oh, I get it," Prentiss said, "Tink wants us to throw James over the wall as a distraction and then we attack from the…ouch!" Prentiss was obviously wrong for Tinkerbell had just poked him in the eye. She started over again by pointing to James making a flying motion. Now understanding the first part of her plan James looked shocked and confused.

"But Tink, I can't fly. Only Peter can fly remember?" He stated, not really wanting to make Tinkerbell mad. Tink patted him on the nose and then pointed to herself. "You can't carry me either." This time he had made Tinkerbell mad, and she kicked him in the nose. James backed off a little rubbing his nose. Then Tinkerbell flew all around him throwing on him what seemed like dust. James coughed and sputtered and tried to stop Tinkerbell by swatting at her. After a few more times around, she stopped and motioned for James to jump. Still coughing, James said, "But Tinkerbell only star stuff can make you fly." Tinkerbell gave him a look that suggested he better jump or he'd regret it. As James leapt into the air Tinkerbell began to tickle him. The other boys gasped. Instead of falling back down to the ground, James just floated in the air.

Hook was, for the first time since arriving on the island, enjoying the day out in the sun. Normally he would have been shut up in his hut scooping out maps and coming up with brilliant schemes to get his revenge on the flying boy. With the boy finally gone, Hook was able to relax on the beach and think of a plan to destroy the island by means other than fire. He hadn't gotten very far in his thinking when a shadow passed over him. He looked up, but there was nothing up in the sky. "Smee!" Hook called out. At once Smee came bumbling over from where he had been sitting only a few feet away. "What was that?" Smee, who had not seen the shadow, looked around hoping to find the source of which Hook was talking.

"Um… perhaps it was nothing. You shouldn't trouble yourself too much, unless it comes back." Smee said trying to consol Hook. He looked around again for whatever had given his captain such a start. Hook, noticing that he had sounded frightened, stiffened and pushed Smee away. None of his crew could ever see him in a weakened state for fear of a mutiny. Hook then settled himself back in the chair he had been sitting in and tried to relax. Just as he starting to feel relaxed the shadow passed over him again and this time Hook looked up fast enough to see two small feet retreating over the wall of the fort. The feet belonged to boy, a boy who was flying, and there was only one boy he knew of that could fly. _No, he's dead. I got him with my hook. The blood is still on it to prove I got him. _Hook was sure that the boy was dead. He had seen all the blood, and no one could survive after losing that much. Still, a chill went down the captain's spine; he had never actually found the body.

James landed safely on a tree just outside the wall of the fort. He had a big grin on his face because he now knew why Peter enjoyed torturing the pirates. It was so much fun to see them all acting like cowards when a shadow passed overhead. "Oh Tink, that was loads of fun, I want to do it again." James stood up on the branch and floated a little toward the wall, preparing to make another pass. All of a sudden Tinkerbell kicked his ear. James turned to look at her while holding his throbbing ear. She was pointing toward a pile of mangos that the other boys had gathered. "Oh lunch, good idea Tink." This was followed by another kick to the other ear. The mangos obviously weren't for lunch. She mimicked throwing the mangos over the wall. All of the boys at once knew what Tinkerbell had in mind. James lowered himself to the ground and joined the other boys at the base of the wall, each with three mangos in hand. James looked at his comrades. "Ready, on the count of three let them fly. One, two, three, FIRE!" The boys hurled the mangos over the wall one at a time, and when they had finished they ran off into the jungle toward the Mollusk village.

Hook had just begun to relax for the second time when he was hit in the back of the head by something. Smee quickly ran to his side and began pulling him up. "Hurry captain sir we're under attack."

"By who?" Hook growled as he and Smee ran for shelter.

"Not who, what," Smee retorted, "And it's mangos sir, flying mangos. Now hurry, we have to get you out of the open." Smee pulled Hook into the safety of Hook's hut. The sat listening and waiting for the barrage of mangos to cease. It was over as quickly as it had started. Hook feeling he knew the source of the mangos told his men to search around the wall and as far up the various jungle paths as they could and quickly. The men were running through the gate even before Hook finished his order.

"Ah Smee, those boys won't get away. If the men don't catch them, then the plague I will release upon this island will. But don't worry Smee I won't release it until I have secured safe passage for us off this dreadful sandpit, haha!"

The boys reached the village panting and wheezing, but very proud indeed. They had just raided the pirate fort, so to speak. Now it was time to tell Peter of their achievement. Certainly he would be proud of them, even if he was unconscious. They ran to the medicine woman's hut and ripped open the flap. However, they didn't find Peter lying on the bed next to fire. No, he was sitting up and eating a hot bowl of soup. The boys, overjoyed that their leader was awake, all started to feverishly retell their heroic raid on the fort. Peter, although startled by the outburst, smiled and held up a hand to cease the mumbled mess of words being literally spit at him. The boys stopped speaking and sat next to the bed still smiling. Peter took a breath and then spoke, very softly.

"One at a time, James you start." James look concerned at Peter's weakness of voice, but was soon overcome by another wave of joy as he began to tell the story.

"Well, we decided to take on the pirates for what they did, and Tink made me fly, and then we all threw mangos over the wall and ran away. You should of seen Hooks face when my shadow passed over him. He acted like a little girl." Peter smiled and tried to laugh, but that was still a little too painful to muster.


End file.
